Neighbors Saddened by Fire in Home They Built as a Team

Neighbors in a tight-knit North Kitsap neighborhood watched early Friday morning as a home they’d built together was engulfed in flames. The couple who rented the home and their two dogs escaped uninjured.
The home, on the 19000 block of Megger Circle NE, was built in 2002 as part of Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority’s self-help housing program. Participants in the program worked as a team to build most of the houses on the block.

From left, Aurora Hawkins-Dodge, Kimko Morris and Mika Morris look at the remains of a house in their Poulsbo neighborhood that burned early Friday. The couple who lived in the house, and their pets, all escaped without injury.
(LARRY STEAGALL | KITSAP SUN)

POULSBO - Neighbors in a tight-knit North Kitsap neighborhood watched early Friday morning as a home they'd built together was engulfed in flames. The couple who rented the home and their two dogs escaped uninjured.

The home, on the 19000 block of Megger Circle NE, was built in 2002 as part of Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority's self-help housing program. Participants in the program worked as a team to build most of the houses on the block.

"I felt bad about it," said Jackie Craig, who did carpentry and landscaping work on the home. "I was glad to hear they got out."

According to the Kitsap County Fire Marshall, the fire was caused by a barbecue stored in the garage before it had completely cooled.

Firefighters from the Poulsbo Fire Department, aided by North Kitsap Fire and Rescue and the Navy, responded to the fire at about 1 a.m.

The woman, 24, told firefighters the dogs alerted the couple to the fire, according to a report from the Poulsbo Fire Department.

"My dogs woke me up because they started acting crazy," the woman told firefighters. "When I got up, I heard the smoke alarms. We looked outside the window and noticed a glow."

The couple was not available for comment Friday afternoon. Neighbors said that the 23-year-old man who lived there went back into the home during the fire to find the dogs, who were apparently frightened by loud explosions from the garage.

The fire was contained to the attached garage, which was destroyed, along with the couple's two cars — a VW Golf and 2009 Jeep Wagoneer. The couple had renter's insurance, according to Poulsbo Fire Department spokeswoman Jody Matson.

Neighbor Kameil Forsythe, who also worked on the home, described how many neighbors congregated on the sidewalk during the fire.

"It was devastating, I think for the whole entire neighborhood," Forsythe said. "The whole neighborhood came together. Everyone was awake."

Carla Lee, whose home is about 100 yards from the garage, showed how the intense heat had scorched her flowers. She said the man who rented the home is in the Navy and had recently returned from deployment.